DETROIT -- January is here and so is the rest of GLIAC play for the Wayne State University men's basketball team.  The Warriors will now begin a 16-game league slate beginning at home against Purdue Northwest on Thursday night (7:30 p.m.) and Parkside (3 p.m.) on Saturday afternoon.

STORYLINES
The year 2023 is done and so is the regular season non-conference slate for Wayne State.  At 6-5 overall and 0-2 in GLIAC play, every regular-season contest from here on out will come within the league for the Warriors.  The first two of those 16 conference dates will be inside the Wayne State Fieldhouse as WSU hosts Purdue Northwest on Thursday night before welcoming in Parkside on Saturday afternoon.

Purdue Northwest has dropped three games in a row since winning five straight prior to that.  Three of the Pride's five losses have come by single digits but they are 3-1 in true road games so far this season.  As for Parkside, the Rangers have been on the wrong side for back-to-back outings and three of their last four.  Unlike PNW, UWP is just 1-3 for true road contests.

THE SERIES
Wayne State leads the all-time series with Purdue Northwest 8-4, but is a perfect 7-0 when hosting the Pride.  Parkside has taken 15 of the 24 all-time meetings with the Warriors, but WSU is above the .500 mark at home against UWP at 6-4.

SCOUTING THE PRIDE
Led by sixth-year head coach Boomer Roberts, Purdue Northwest features four of the GLIAC's top 18 scorers in terms of points per game.  Those four are senior guard CJ Jackson (13.6 PPG), graduate forward Brendan Temple (13.2 PPG), senior forward Kalil Whitehead (12.5 PPG) and graduate guard Cameron Alford (12.4 PPG).  Rebounding wise, the Pride are paced by a player that has come in off the bench for all 12 games in junior guard/forward Dalton Gayman and his 6.0 boards per contest.  Ranking third in the league in scoring as a team (81.6 PPG), PNW boasts a pair of players dishing out at least 3.5 assists per game in Temple (3.7) and Alford (3.5).

SCOUTING THE RANGERS
Parkside, the 2022-23 GLIAC Regular-Season Champion, is coached by 21st-year man Luke Reigel, the league's reigning Coach of the Year.  So far this season, the Rangers rank last in the conference in scoring offense (68.8 PPG), but second in scoring defense (65.6 PPG).  Individually for UWP, a pair of players average double figures in the scoring department including redshirt junior guard Josiah Palmer (13.6 PPG) and redshirt junior forward Colin O'Rourke (13.1 PPG).  O'Rourke is on top of the rebounding column with 5.8 per contest, while Palmer's 4.9 assists per performance are good for first in the league.

LAST TIME OUT - VS. FANSHAWE
Sophomore center Matt Coffey scored the Warriors first four points with the visiting Falcons knotting the score at both 2-2 and 4-4.  WSU scored the next six points on two buckets by Kaimen Lennox, sandwiched around a lay-up by Tamario Adley.

A triple by Carmelo Harris extended the lead to eight (13-5) just past the five-minute mark.  FC's Luka Philavong made all three foul shots, then Jack Tunstill connected from beyond the arc to cut the Wayne State margin to two at 13-11.

After a dunk by Kareem Aburashed, Philavong made two more free throws and Steven Okorafor finished off a fast break to tie the game at 15-15 with 12:48 remaining in the first half.

Neither team would score for the next four minutes until a turnaround jumper by Ray Williams, Jr., but Fanshawe would tie the game for the fourth and final time following two foul shots by Mickey Griffiths.

Wayne State would score 12 of the final 20 points of the first half to lead 29-25 at intermission.  The Warriors were just 1-of-10 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes and were out-rebounded 20-16.

The Warriors advantage would be trimmed to two points (30-28) after Okorafor split a pair from the charity stripe at the 18:13 mark.

Adley responded with a triple on the ensuing possession, and Williams, Jr. finished off a fast break with a dunk.  A foul shot by Lennox, and a lay-up by Coffey increased the margin to 10 (38-28) with just over 16 minutes left.

Following a basket by Okorafor, Wayne State would answer with nine consecutive points for a 47-30 lead.  Adley and Colin Golson, Jr. each made field goals before Williams, Jr. connected on 3-of-4 foul shots, then another turnaround jump shot to finish off the spurt.

The advantage ballooned to 21 (62-41) with 5:29 remaining, before Fanshawe concluded the game on an 11-6 run.

Wayne State shot 43 percent (24-of-56) from the field, while FC was 19-of-53 (36 percent).  WSU made four triples in the second half to finish 5-of-22 (23 percent), compared to the Falcons 3-of-6 (50 percent).  The Warriors were 15-of-25 (60 percent) from the charity stripe, while Fanshawe was 11-of-15 (73 percent).  Wayne State out-rebounded the visitors 24-12 in the second half to win the battle on the glass 40-32.

Coffey finished with a game-high 15 points and a team-best seven rebounds.  Williams, Jr. contributed 10 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Adley chipped in with a game-best five assists.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Wayne State's leading scorer with the sixth-best mark in the GLIAC according to points per game is Carmelo Harris at 15.6 points per contest.  Harris is one of five Warriors putting up at least 8.7 points per outing along with Matt Coffey (10.1), Ray Williams, Jr. (10.0), Colin Golson, Jr. (9.8) and Tamario Adley (8.7 PPG).  Williams, Jr. is bringing down a team-high 6.6 rebounds per contest (tied-for-fourth in the GLIAC) and Golson, Jr. is close behind him with an average of 5.8 (tied-for-ninth in the GLIAC).  Assist wise, Harris is on top of the squad with 2.6 per game and Adley has an average of 2.5 per contest.  Coffey (.651 field goal percentage - 3rd) and Adley (.587 - 7th) both rank among the top 10 in the GLIAC for efficiency.

LIVE ON WDTK
All men's basketball contests (both home and away) will air live on WDTK - The Patriot (1400 AM / 101.5 FM).  Fans can also listen to the audio online at PatriotDetroit.com.  This is the 22nd consecutive season WSU basketball has been aired on 1400 AM.

Kevin Brechmacher is in his eighth season calling the WSU men's games on WDTK.  He will be joined on the broadcast of home games by either Chuck Key (2014-18), Marcus Moore (2014-18) or Andy Dold (1998-2002), all former Warriors.

In addition, every men's basketball GLIAC contest will be televised on FloSports (flohoops.com) per the GLIAC agreement with FloSports.  In addition, all home non-conference games for the men will also be on FloHoops.